Updated 3 March 2023
The inspection
We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act) as part of our regulatory functions. We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act. We looked at the overall quality of the service and provided a rating for the service under the Health and Social Care Act 2008.
Inspection team
The inspection team consisted of 1 inspector and 1 Expert by Experience. An Expert by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.
Service and service type
Blue Ocean Service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own homes.
Registered Manager
This provider is required to have a registered manager to oversee the delivery of regulated activities at this location. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Registered managers and providers are legally responsible for how the service is run, for the quality and safety of the care provided and compliance with regulations.
At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post.
Notice of inspection
We gave 48 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because we needed to ensure the registered manager would be available to assist us with the inspection.
Inspection activity started on 23 December 2022 and ended on 20 January 2023. We requested a range of documents that were sent to us by the provider between 28 December 2022 and 16 January 2023. The inspection was completed remotely. We spoke to the registered manager on video calls. We made calls to staff on 20 January 2023. We made calls to people and their relatives on 18 January 2023.
What we did before inspection
The provider was not asked to complete a Provider Information Return (PIR) prior to this inspection. A PIR is information providers send us to give key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We reviewed the information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.
During the inspection
We reviewed a range of records related to 5 people’s care and support. This included people’s care plans, risk assessments and medicine records. We reviewed 5 staff files in relation to recruitment and training. We reviewed records related to the management of the service, which included complaints, audits and a range of policies and procedures.
We spoke with 6 staff members. This included the registered manager and 5 care workers.
We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found after the inspection. This included training records and information related to staff recruitment. We provided formal feedback to the management team on 19 January 2023 via video call.
We spoke with 4 people and 5 relatives. We contacted 5 health and social care professionals but received no feedback.
This performance review and assessment was carried out without a visit to the location’s office. We used technology such as video calls to enable us to engage with people using the service and staff, and electronic file sharing to enable us to review documentation.